Sunday, January 19, 2014

There has been a lot of discussion recently regarding iOS automation and the use of URL schemes to eliminate tedious processes. I’m not the type that has come up with lengthy app-chains and paragraph-long code to automate my daily tasks. On the other hand, a recent development — albeit expected development — is going to drastically change how I use my device trio.

Alex Guyot’s combination of Drafts and Launch Center Pro on the iPad will be a reality soon enough, but will that combination act in the same manner as the current combination on the iPhone?

My guess is no.

Launch Center Pro is one of the most malleable applications on the App Store. Its extensive use of URL schemes allows for an infinite number of workflows. Each of these workflows represents a different purpose and essentially renders Launch Center Pro a “shapeshifter”. Launch Center Pro can become anything a user wants it to be.

Because Launch Center Pro can be customized to each user’s needs, its utility becomes reflective of the iPhone itself. Whatever a user uses an iPhone for, be it writing, communicating or web surfing, Launch Center Pro can eliminate tedious tasks within any of those categories.

On the other side of the coin, an iPhone and iPad have different purposes. Despite utilizing the same operating system, how one utilizes an iPad is naturally different than how one uses an iPhone. Hell, the uses of an iPad Air and a Retina iPad mini <a href="http: data-preserve-html-node="true"//www.thenewsprint.co/blog/2013/12/6/ipad-mini-as-the-absorber">are different</a>. An iPad, as seen in Apple’s <a href="http data-preserve-html-node="true"s://www.apple.com/your-verse/">recent iPad advertisements</a>, can become whatever its user wants it to be as well.

Therefore, because there is an inherent difference between the iPad and the iPhone, and because Launch Center Pro’s customization features uniquely fit users, Launch Center Pro will naturally be used differently on the iPad. The iPhone is generally used for short, on-the-go tasks. An iPad, in contrast, is used for more creative and productive ventures in less portable contexts. Launch Center Pro will reflect how the iPad is used and be contorted for more creative and productive ventures.

This has a very broad impact.

Matthew Panzarino recently wrote about a <a href="http: data-preserve-html-node="true"//techcrunch.com/2014/01/18/the-tablet-is-the-new-general-purpose-computer/">“changing of the guard”</a>, if you will:

I digress, as I don’t want to turn this into a platform debate, but I did find it interesting that the spot was centered around not what iPads can do better than other tablets specifically, but what tablets can do better than other computers. The shift is upon us.

How will a pliable Launch Center Pro — or any <a href="http: data-preserve-html-node="true"//my.workflow.is">workflow app</a> for that matter — affect this shift? Applications that can improve productivity, inter-app communication and efficiency will all contribute to the shift that Panzarino discusses.

The iPad (both Air and mini) already have the necessary hardware to make it an every day computer. The defining factor for that switch is the software which an iPad can run. Launch Center Pro will undoubtedly change — or drastically improve — approaches to productivity on the iPad. Combined with apps like <a href="http: data-preserve-html-node="true"//omz-software.com/editorial/">Editorial</a> and Drafts, I foresee immense opportunity for users to wander over to a tablet-centric computing system. Even MG may consider the <a href="http: data-preserve-html-node="true"//parislemon.com/post/73674040387/habits-tablets">100% switch</a> once Launch Center Pro launches to unify productivity apps on the iPad.

While Launch Center Pro won’t be the answer to productivity enhancements, it will certainly continue the trend towards "tabletism”<a href="#fn:1" id="fnref:1" title=" data-preserve-html-node="true"see footnote" class="footnote">[1]</a> — the trend of every day computing shifting away from the traditional PC.

I even looked up “tabletism” on Google. It does not appear to have any meaning at this point. Hopefully I’m not full of crap by coining such an obvious term. <a href="#fnref:1" title="return to article" cla data-preserve-html-node="true"ss="reversefootnote"> ↩</a>